Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o Prejudice* #102

[Momofthreeboys]

The prosecutor MUST manage this. The defendant has a Constitutional right to a speedy trial. Every prosecutor knows that the case must be tried within six months after the entry of a not guilty plea. If that doesn't happen and the defendant doesn't agree to extend the time, the case is dismissed with prejudice. No excuses.

In this case, the recusal of Judge M effectively compressed the timeline for motions and deadlines, but still, the prosecution's obligations existed from the filing of the case.

I agree. And the DA and LE control the timeline...the arrest triggers the timeline. It triggers discovery. The prosecutor was in charge at that point. I got dissed plenty for thinking the arrest was premature but all things including a poorly written affidavit and all missed steps along the way point to the beginning and the arrest. A rough lesson for the DA. There is really no one else to point fingers at in my opinion and to do so is deflecting from the root issue. The defense holds the DA's proverbial feet to the fire and in this case both judges used great caution with the motions for sanctions until there was no room for them to wiggle anymore.

 

[susiQ]

The trespass case was dropped I do believe. The issue originally was that SD was on the witness list for the murder case and would have her lawyer in the courtroom and available to advise her....her lawyer was a friend of Judge Murphy and Judge Murphy agreed with defense that it would be a conflict of interest so the situation had more to do with the murder case and SD as a witness than with her trespass case (which was dropped) is how I understood the situation. I'm open to correction if I missed something.

In my opinion the voter fraud case will go pretty quickly. He signed on the witness line. He claims to have thought he could do that. That's for me is the crux of the case. Somewhat similar to the former chair of the Colorado GOP who actually signed and submitted a ballot for his wife and received probation and community service. This man also said he did it and thought he could so a somewhat parallel story. We have no idea if he will plead guilty, do a plea deal or go all the way. I'm thinking a plea deal will be worked out and we'll hear about it some day. If prosecution and defense agree to the plea it isn't very often a judge won't sign off on the deal.

I have just the thing for the Bare’s community service. How about hours as an orderly in a cancer ward or cancer treatment facility. Then again, nah, they need people that actually CARE about others. He obviously doesn’t have that quality. While he quotes scripture to throw at others he’s forgotten this one about ”faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is LOVE.” Boy did he miss the mark on that one! For him LOVE = CONTROL.

I suspect what the Bare will be more than happy to do is move boulders around for the County, hardscaping Salida. My advice to the County is, Don’t Let Him Do It!

 

[Megnut]

Just putting this out there --

A fall trial would mesh nicely with my schedule.

My question -- does Barry live on the cheap now, saving up for his pending legal fee$ or does he live it up now? What's the current exchange rate dollars-to-pesos these days? $500,000 can go along way...

You don't want to do Cancun without a prep tan. Check.

JMO

 

[Megnut]

I have just the thing for the Bare’s community service. How about hours as an orderly in a cancer ward or cancer treatment facility. Then again, nah, they need people that actually CARE about others. He obviously doesn’t have that quality. While he quotes scripture to throw at others he’s forgotten this one about ”faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is LOVE.” Boy did he miss the mark on that one! For him LOVE = CONTROL.

I suspect what the Bare will be more than happy to do is move boulders around for the County, hardscaping Salida. My advice to the County is, Don’t Let him Do It!

Community service -- he's ripe for litter detail. Not averse to getting dirty, getting soaked. Really good at throwing out other people's stuff.

Know what else he threw out? All the good Suzanne was going to do.

What a tremendous loss.

JMO

 

[GatorFL]

The prosecutor MUST manage this. The defendant has a Constitutional right to a speedy trial. Every prosecutor knows that the case must be tried within six months after the entry of a not guilty plea. If that doesn't happen and the defendant doesn't agree to extend the time, the case is dismissed with prejudice. No excuses.

In this case, the recusal of Judge M effectively compressed the timeline for motions and deadlines, but still, the prosecution's obligations existed from the filing of the case.

Barry waived his right to a speedy trial. If my math is right the DA had about 7 1/2 months from the charging/plea to when the trial was scheduled.

Judge rules there is probable cause for Barry Morphew to stand trial

A Chaffee County judge set bail at $500,000 for Morphew in the death of his wife, Suzanne, who went missing in 2020.

www.9news.com

"On Friday, Murphy found probable cause that Morphew might have murdered his wife and that he had motivation to do so. He also found probable cause on the other four charges.
Morphew pleaded not guilty and waived his right to a speedy trial.
The trial was set for May 3 through June 1, 2022."

So the DA should have been able to manage this.

 

[Trebor5591]

From the below story:

"Prosecutors filed the motion to "dismiss without prejudice" — meaning they could file charges against Morphew at a later date. In the motion, prosecutors said they believe they're close to finding Suzanne's body "in a remote and mountainous region nearby the Morphew residence." Investigators believe the body is in an area that's covered by five feet of snow, precluding them from safely excavating the area, according to the motion."

Judge Dismisses Case Against Husband of Suzanne Morphew, Who Vanished on Mother's Day 2 Years Ago

Prosecutors said they believe they are close to finding Suzanne Morphew's body

people.com

I wonder why the prosecutors are so confident they are close to finding Suzanne's body? And how is that process going? When can we anticipate them recovering her corpse and refiling charges against BM?

I hope they do find Suzanne's body and are able to determine what happened for her. But I have to say that I feel little confidence in Prosecutors/LEOs ability to move this case forward at this point. I still can not understand why they arrested BM before they had the evidence to back it up.

 

[GatorFL]

e's body and are able to determine what happened for her. But I have to say that I feel little confidence in Prosecutors/LEOs ability to move this case forward at this point. I still can not understand why they arrested BM before they had the evidence to back it up.

IMO, hubris. They thought it would be a slam dunk case and instead got schooled by the judge.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

From the below story:

"Prosecutors filed the motion to "dismiss without prejudice" — meaning they could file charges against Morphew at a later date. In the motion, prosecutors said they believe they're close to finding Suzanne's body "in a remote and mountainous region nearby the Morphew residence." Investigators believe the body is in an area that's covered by five feet of snow, precluding them from safely excavating the area, according to the motion."

Judge Dismisses Case Against Husband of Suzanne Morphew, Who Vanished on Mother's Day 2 Years Ago

Prosecutors said they believe they are close to finding Suzanne Morphew's body

people.com

I wonder why the prosecutors are so confident they are close to finding Suzanne's body? And how is that process going? When can we anticipate them recovering her corpse and refiling charges against BM?

I hope they do find Suzanne's body and are able to determine what happened for her. But I have to say that I feel little confidence in Prosecutors/LEOs ability to move this case forward at this point. I still can not understand why they arrested BM before they had the evidence to back it up.

Legal folk say a new arrest won’t happen soon if ever so we shall see and time will tell.

 

[waldojabba]

Colorado snowpack melting at a "ridiculous " rate

Colorado’s snowpack is melting at a “ridiculous” rate

Colorado didn’t see enough snow this winter to fully recover from the ongoing megadrought and now what snow the state did see is melting too quickly, experts say.

www.denverpost.com

 

[waldojabba]

u

More important was a no work on Sunday. For many states public construction jobs were exempt from Covid work stoppages and employees continued to work during Covid. I don’t know how Colorado was.

Lauren went to Broomfield and researched the whole issue. You can find it on her youtube. Iirc we discussed it at length - like most things lol . Barry was not allowed to work that day. There were no exemptions IMO

 

[CGray123]

Barry waived his right to a speedy trial. If my math is right the DA had about 7 1/2 months from the charging/plea to when the trial was scheduled.

Judge rules there is probable cause for Barry Morphew to stand trial

A Chaffee County judge set bail at $500,000 for Morphew in the death of his wife, Suzanne, who went missing in 2020.

www.9news.com

"On Friday, Murphy found probable cause that Morphew might have murdered his wife and that he had motivation to do so. He also found probable cause on the other four charges.
Morphew pleaded not guilty and waived his right to a speedy trial.
The trial was set for May 3 through June 1, 2022."

So the DA should have been able to manage this.

IIRC, he waived speedy trial to the extent necessary to accommodate the court's schedule. If the DA needed to postpone she would have been SOL.

 

[FromGermany1]

This is where he didn't act in character.

He should have entertained the possibility she had snuck off with her lover while he was out of town.

It's the most obvious thing - at least until the bike was found. The fact that he didn't mention this to LE is highly incriminating.

Bbbut - he allegedly "didn't know" of Suzanne's lover, and certainly it was hard work for him to avoid mentioning the fact.

 

[Love Never Fails]

From the below story:

"Prosecutors filed the motion to "dismiss without prejudice" — meaning they could file charges against Morphew at a later date. In the motion, prosecutors said they believe they're close to finding Suzanne's body "in a remote and mountainous region nearby the Morphew residence." Investigators believe the body is in an area that's covered by five feet of snow, precluding them from safely excavating the area, according to the motion."

Judge Dismisses Case Against Husband of Suzanne Morphew, Who Vanished on Mother's Day 2 Years Ago

Prosecutors said they believe they are close to finding Suzanne Morphew's body

people.com

I wonder why the prosecutors are so confident they are close to finding Suzanne's body? And how is that process going? When can we anticipate them recovering her corpse and refiling charges against BM?

I hope they do find Suzanne's body and are able to determine what happened for her. But I have to say that I feel little confidence in Prosecutors/LEOs ability to move this case forward at this point. I still can not understand why they arrested BM before they had the evidence to back it up.

They had a tremendous amount of circumstantial evidence. IMO, they didn’t need her body. But the defense said discovery was slow and the judge sanctioned the prosecutor by pulling 14 of her 16 experts testimonies. How could she try a case that way? I’m not saying the DA didn’t have missteps but this judge (Lama) sided repeatedly with defense. And yet the previous judge said there was much cause to prosecute him!

It’s only a guess but if Suzanne is found, several tests will be run on the remains to find evidence, cause of death, etc before case is refiled.

If body is not found, I still look for the DA to retry him and not let Suzanne’s family and local residents down by allowing a killer to roam freely.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

They had a tremendous amount of circumstantial evidence. IMO, they didn’t need her body. But the defense said discovery was slow and the judge sanctioned the prosecutor by pulling 14 of her 16 experts testimonies. How could she try a case that way? I’m not saying the DA didn’t have missteps but this judge (Lama) sided repeatedly with defense. And yet the previous judge said there was much cause to prosecute him!

It’s only a guess but if Suzanne is found, several tests will be run on the remains to find evidence, cause of death, etc before case is refiled.

If body is not found, I still look for the DA to retry him and not let Suzanne’s family and local residents down by allowing a killer to roam freely.

They did not have a "tremendous" amount of circumstantial evidence...they had enough to get it bound over for trial but not enough to meet the higher bar of proof evident presumption great so they reached the "lowest" bar necessary given the tip goes to the prosecution to move forward to trial. Almost everyone here in this thread and forum thought at the time it was the right decision. It's a bitter pill for all of us now that were looking toward the trial and probably more difficult for those that were solidly and emotionally behind the idea a jury would be unanimously in favor of guilt. You are correct, prosecution "may" decide to try again, but as been discussed they may have estoppel hurdles to get there especially if they have no additional evidence, a body or an informant. I personally have a sense prosecution used the "we're close to finding a body" as support for their motion to dismiss and that it may or may not pan out. The missed deadlines and the Brady issues exist...neither judge "made them up" in their heads. Judge Lama was generous in proclaiming that he didn't find it "willful" as I'm sure there are people who could argue that point but the fact for history will always be that the prosecution damaged their own case.

 

[Scootie98]

I have just the thing for the Bare’s community service. How about hours as an orderly in a cancer ward or cancer treatment facility. Then again, nah, they need people that actually CARE about others. He obviously doesn’t have that quality. While he quotes scripture to throw at others he’s forgotten this one about ”faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is LOVE.” Boy did he miss the mark on that one! For him LOVE = CONTROL.

I suspect what the Bare will be more than happy to do is move boulders around for the County, hardscaping Salida. My advice to the County is, Don’t Let Him Do It!

I would rather see him cleaning out the cages at the zoo...particularly where the critters he likes to kill are housed.

 

[Scootie98]

From the below story:

"Prosecutors filed the motion to "dismiss without prejudice" — meaning they could file charges against Morphew at a later date. In the motion, prosecutors said they believe they're close to finding Suzanne's body "in a remote and mountainous region nearby the Morphew residence." Investigators believe the body is in an area that's covered by five feet of snow, precluding them from safely excavating the area, according to the motion."

Judge Dismisses Case Against Husband of Suzanne Morphew, Who Vanished on Mother's Day 2 Years Ago

Prosecutors said they believe they are close to finding Suzanne Morphew's body

people.com

I wonder why the prosecutors are so confident they are close to finding Suzanne's body? And how is that process going? When can we anticipate them recovering her corpse and refiling charges against BM?

I hope they do find Suzanne's body and are able to determine what happened for her. But I have to say that I feel little confidence in Prosecutors/LEOs ability to move this case forward at this point. I still can not understand why they arrested BM before they had the evidence to back it up.

Hard to tell if "they believe they're close to finding Suzanne's body" is a Hail Mary or a Slam Dunk.

 

[WestGL]

"He should have entertained the possibility she had snuck off with her lover while he was out of town."

I believe (not 100% certain) the married man she was having an affair with lived out of town--it was more a "telephone and text affair" as I recall. Also, I doubt she would have picked Mother's Day to sneak off to meet her paramour...since he was also married with children, likely he would not want to cheat on Mothers Day either--

You seem to have missed the point about him being “in character.”

He did not at all act like a person who is wondering where their spouse is. If he truly had no idea what happened to her and that she was missing and he was panicked looking for her he would be going through all the possibilities of where she might be. BEFORE jumping straight to “she’s dead” which is what he did.

He knew she was having some type of affair so he might have speculated that one option is she had just snuck off with her lover for a bit, whether in person or on the phone. But he didn’t say that. Actually he lied and said that he knew nothing about an affair (because that happens to be motive for murder).

He knew she was recovering from cancer and serious cancer treatment so he might’ve speculated that she collapsed somewhere in the house or around the house. But he didn’t say that. He didn’t walk around or run around looking.

There’s many options that a truly innocent person would start with before they jump to the absolutely ridiculous, bizarre, and highly suspicious theory that a mountain lion ATE HIS WIFE!!!

Why is all that important? Because he was trying to ACT innocent, and in such a poor way that it was very obvious he was putting on an act. He did not at all look like a truly innocent husband frantically looking for his wife in the first hours that everyone was wondering where she was. Actually what he was saying and the way he was acting so passively was suspiciously implying that she is dead and gone forever.

In character, he forgot he is first supposed to act like a frantic husband looking everywhere for her and running through every possibility of where she might be. Instead he very ham handedly jumped straight to trying to explain alternative theories of why she was dead and gone forever. No one does that unless they know for a fact she’s dead and gone forever.

By the way can that be my submission for his book title? A Mountain Lion Ate My Wife!

 

[GatorFL]

Hard to tell if "they believe they're close to finding Suzanne's body" is a Hail Mary or a Slam Dunk.

A slam dunk from Linda Stanley's office?

 

[Cindizzi]

u

Lauren went to Broomfield and researched the whole issue. You can find it on her youtube. Iirc we discussed it at length - like most things lol . Barry was not allowed to work that day. There were no exemptions IMO

Grusing said on the stand that he interviewed the company that BM was doing the work for and they told him BM was made aware of no work allowed on Sundays.

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[Scootie98]

You seem to have missed the point about him being “in character.”

He did not at all act like a person who is wondering where their spouse is. If he truly had no idea what happened to her and that she was missing and he was panicked looking for her he would be going through all the possibilities of where she might be. BEFORE jumping straight to “she’s dead” which is what he did.

He knew she was having some type of affair so he might have speculated that one option is she had just snuck off with her lover for a bit, whether in person or on the phone. But he didn’t say that. Actually he lied and said that he knew nothing about an affair (because that happens to be motive for murder).

He knew she was recovering from cancer and serious cancer treatment so he might’ve speculated that she collapsed somewhere in the house or around the house. But he didn’t say that.

There’s many options that a truly innocent person would start with before they jump to the absolutely ridiculous, bizarre, and highly suspicious theory that a mountain lion ATE HIS WIFE!!!

By the way can that be my submission for his book title? A Mountain Lion Ate My Wife!

I tend to think the motive for murder was the inevitable divorce proceedings and their impact on his life....financially, and possibly legally due to shady dealings which would surface and destroy him. Suzanne was alive when and while she was having an affair (which I believe he was aware of). It wasn't until she told BM "I'm done" and he believed it, maybe finally, that he put the wheels in motion to actually do the deed. IMO, it wasn't an affair that triggered the murder, it was the soon-to-be-divorce. An "accidental death" has no Discovery in a courtroom to dissect BM and his dealings and impose settlements....a divorce does.